All a coach or manager can do is put the players in position to make plays. After that, it’s on them.

]]>By: bengalsuckerhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-384235
Tue, 16 Oct 2012 13:19:14 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-384235You guys are killing me saying “dusty isn’t the one swinging the bat” or “dusty didn’t make the error in the field”. Dusty is the manager and is supposed to have his team prepared. Plain and simple. They came home unprepared and not at all motivated. That falls on the manager.
]]>By: adeedothatswhohttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-384133
Tue, 16 Oct 2012 05:46:24 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-384133Plenty of people keep saying that Dusty ‘didn’t make that error’ or ‘didn’t throw that pitch’, but folks….those players were in those positions BECAUSE of Dusty’s managing. Should he have had Rolen in? Should he have left Latos in? He’s the one that decides who gets used in those spots, and he chose incorrectly. So, yes, you can blame him, as well as those players.
]]>By: huskylawyerhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-384061
Tue, 16 Oct 2012 02:22:27 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-384061I think Cinci fans forgot how horrible they were before Baker got there. Before, they were completely irrelevant. Now, they are contenders. Ask Chicago fans how things worked out after Baker was let go lol.
]]>By: dutchman45http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-384053
Tue, 16 Oct 2012 01:56:32 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-384053Glad the reds resigned him. 2 division titles in 3 years ain’t bad. In addition, dusty did not make error in playoffs, Rolen did. Dusty did not give Cueto his injury, dusty did not give Votto a bum knee that needs a winter to rehab. We are fortunate to have a team that competes. What do u think ofastro, met, Kansas city fans, they suffer. Looking forward to dusty leading us and getting that evasive playoff series win and world series. REDS FANS SHOW SUPPORT AND LOYALTY!
]]>By: redlegs7http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-384016
Tue, 16 Oct 2012 00:27:55 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-384016The players like to play for Dusty and he stands up for them. That being said, as a fan, I can’t stand seeing players that don’t produce continue to see playing time. We all know the numbers and players so I’m not going to beat a dead horse. I’m just a fan who disagrees with his style of managing the game.
]]>By: whodeytnhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383954
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 22:11:03 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383954Nooooooo!
]]>By: natstowngreghttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383917
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 21:06:15 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383917The correct response is, the Reds won 97 games despite Dusty, and lost a 2-0 playoff lead because of him. Confusing the masses with facts is not allowed.

(sarcasm button)

]]>By: stlouis1baseballhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383906
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:51:35 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383906Dead on. It’s essentially exactly what I was stating in my previous post.
This is NOT how it used to be. It used to be a great time talking baseball with knowledgeable fans of the opposing team. Now…it’s the bleacher seats at Wrigley Field (or close to it).
]]>By: mazblasthttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383897
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:43:18 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383897Don’t hold the actions of a few fans at the GASP against all Reds fans. Hold the fact that a great number of Reds fans act that way to fans of the opposition against them. I’ve taken their verbal and physical crap for years as a fan of another team who has lived in Cincy most of his life.

It wasn’t always this way. Years ago, they’d give you grief, but it was usually good-natured ribbing from fans who knew at least a little baseball. Now, it’s nothing but ignorance, self-righteousness, and parochialism, with a coating of crappy beer over it. Some of these fans don’t know squat and take great pride in it.

The irony is that the organization itself has gotten better over the years. Stadium personnel, who seemed to have been recruited from the SS in the Crosley Field days and the KGB when the team played at Riverfront, aren’t nearly as antagonistic as they used to be. They don’t even threaten to throw people out for daring to root for the opposition anymore.

It’s a shame, but compared to previous years, I go to fewer games now and try to sit away from other fans when I go.

]]>By: stlouis1baseballhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383880
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:30:27 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383880Maynard: As someone who has been to so many games in Cincinnati I have lost count…please know this is a totally new phenomenon. It truly is. But you know this based upon your Father-in-laws reaction to it. I used to go to games and have a great time talking baseball to all the Reds fans around me.
Now…I get an 87 year old Women telling me to “enjoy the ride home” immediately after the Redlegs win on a walk off…or “Ozzie Smith sucks #$@k” while walking to my seat mid game. Or…”hope Champan drills Molina in the back” while returning with beer.
For these ingrates I respond with “success breeds jealousy.”
Without fail…it works every time.
By and large though…
this is a new breed of Reds fan. Not very becoming…but a new breed nonetheless.
]]>By: stlouis1baseballhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383872
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:23:19 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383872I hear you man. I truly do. I live in the heart of Redlegs/Cubs Country.
Born and raised about an 1 1/2 hours west of Cincinnati.
I am fully aware of you guys chomping at the bit for another long postseason run.
It will come. I fully expected it this year. You will be back next year as well. No doubt in my mind.
]]>By: gerryb323http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383849
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:03:09 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383849In other news, James Earl Jones has signed on for The Sandlot 3 and 4.

Which is clearly a better idea than this contract.

]]>By: maynardstoolhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383848
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:01:50 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383848I never had a problem with Cinci until this past summer. Went to all three games of the Reds/Cards series in July. Their fans were by far the most obnoxious asshats I’ve ever encountered.

Went with my father in law whose a life long reds fan and he couldn’t believe the way the “fans” acted.

So every since then I’ve enjoyed watching them suffer

]]>By: ezthinkinghttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383839
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 19:56:36 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383839Well, if you were a real Reds fan you’d know that Rolen is a free agent. You might have also known that Frazier and Heisey each hit .181 in September, mostly against the AAA callups. You might have seen that Votto couldn’t drive the ball out of a Pony league field after coming off the DL and that their ace went down after 8 pitches in the playoff.

But reality is so boring, so let’s blame Dusty.

]]>By: mazblasthttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383832
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 19:49:37 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383832Dusty didn’t boot that ball in the 10th inning of Game 3. Dusty didn’t serve up that meatball to Posey in Game 5. Dusty didn’t take that too-close-to-take Strike 3 to Hanigan in Game 5. He didn’t choke away a 2-0 advantage in the LDS.

That said–Dusty has proven time after time that he’s no post-season manager, and he’s proven that armed with sufficient talent, even the worst managers can win in the regular season.

I’d offer my condolences to Reds fans, but I’m too busy chuckling. I’d tune in the local sports talk shows tonight to hear the ranting about this, but the shows will be dominated by ranting about the Mighty Bengals.

]]>By: maynardstoolhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383828
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 19:45:12 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383828Yeah but Dusty has given you guys TWO Division Titles in THREE years.

]]>By: bengalsuckerhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383815
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 19:37:08 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383815More years of watching Stubbs look like a college kid at the plate against Nolan Ryan and more time dealing with Rolen’s stiff back if he wakes up wrong. Have to watch Baker sit 2 great young prospects (Frazier and Heisy) just so the “Vets” get their “due playing time”. He’s brutal to watch as a manager.
]]>By: prosourcetalkhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383807
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 19:32:05 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383807Hahaha that’s awesome
]]>By: bengalsuckerhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383802
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 19:30:14 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383802What did I tell you in previous posts? You were telling me to “enjoy the ride in the playoffs” and all that nonsense. Now you see why Cincinnati fans are so bitter to our teams. It’s either a great year full of promising playoff games and then a epic collapse or it’s pure torture all year watching them lose every other game. There’s no in between or no teams that just run through the playoffs. It gets old.
]]>By: bengalsuckerhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383801
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 19:28:47 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383801Great. He orchestrates 2 complete meltdowns in the playoffs within 3 years and is rewarded. Great, he got us there. Apparently he can’t get us over that first round hump. More years of being good enough to keep Cincinnati hoping yet stabbing us in the hearts with a playoff meltdown at the end of the season. Yay.
]]>By: stlouis1baseballhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383794
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 19:21:49 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383794Hahaha! You guys are killing me. I appreciate the spirit in which you post. I mean that sincerely.
]]>By: merchie89http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383731
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:20:26 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383731I just put a fork into my brain….hopefully it helps
]]>By: jonroxhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383722
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:16:41 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383722I hate everything and everyone
]]>By: lazlosotherhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383712
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:12:13 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383712Masochism at it’s worst.
]]>By: maynardstoolhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/15/reds-and-manager-dusty-baker-agree-to-two-year-contract/comment-page-1/#comment-383692
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 17:59:41 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=237102#comment-383692Thanks Walt!!!
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